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January 17, 2010

Rather, he discovered it and instantly adopted it, and I have begrudgingly half accepted it.

Of course I appreciate technology -- hey, I am a blogger -- but I'm also very much a retro-romantic, in the sense that I prefer the tactile over the virtual. Call me crazy, but give me a leatherbound agenda and juicy blue ink pen over a crisp Outlook or Google agenda any day.

An online calendar, though, has this advantage: it lets me know when my beau is out of town, making both of our lives a bit easier. Mr. A travels a lot for work, you see, and in the past when we tried to schedule anything in advance (a theater performance, a weekend out of town), it took a 20 minute conversation to sort out available dates, let alone pick one. He'd look through his conference schedules, I'd review my upcoming deadlines, one of us would check the website of whatever event or theater show we wanted to attend, we'd confirm, double check, etc.

Now I can simply click on his calendar and know when he's available.

That's how it worked for the first few months, at least.

Then, he started adding my name to common activities, which results in an automated email getting sent to me. "You've received an invitation: Opera at 7 pm. February 5. Would you like to accept? Click here: Yes/No/Maybe." Hardly a romantic date proposition, but it's nice to note that Google still allows for a touch of coyness, with the maybe button.

Love in the Digital Age, ey?

Well today, I started inputting events and sending him notifications. I mean, invitiations. First I added our upcoming travel -- San Fran in February and NY and Texas in March. Then I added a theater show we have tickets for, and some standing events like a monthly wine tasting.

Then I took it a step further and scheduled -- yes -- a kiss.

He's on a conference trip for the next few weeks, and what can I say. I miss my mister.

He has yet to reply. Keeping me on the edge of my seat, is he?

Was Google a necessary or useful tool, and will we need any help in getting that event off the ground? No and no. But am I smiling, knowing now that technology can, through a bit of whimsy, be subverted to suit my devilish ends?

Rather, he discovered it and instantly adopted it, and I have begrudgingly half accepted it.

Of course I appreciate technology -- hey, I am a blogger -- but I'm also very much a retro-romantic, in the sense that I prefer the tactile over the virtual. Call me crazy, but give me a leatherbound agenda and juicy blue ink pen over a crisp Outlook or Google agenda any day.

An online calendar, though, has this advantage: it lets me know when my beau is out of town, making both of our lives a bit easier. Mr. A travels a lot for work, you see, and in the past when we tried to schedule anything in advance (a theater performance, a weekend out of town), it took a 20 minute conversation to sort out available dates, let alone pick one. He'd look through his conference schedules, I'd review my upcoming deadlines, one of us would check the website of whatever event or theater show we wanted to attend, we'd confirm, double check, etc.

Now I can simply click on his calendar and know when he's available.

That's how it worked for the first few months, at least.

Then, he started adding my name to common activities, which results in an automated email getting sent to me. "You've received an invitation: Opera at 7 pm. February 5. Would you like to accept? Click here: Yes/No/Maybe." Hardly a romantic date proposition, but it's nice to note that Google still allows for a touch of coyness, with the maybe button.

Love in the Digital Age, ey?

Well today, I started inputting events and sending him notifications. I mean, invitiations. First I added our upcoming travel -- San Fran in February and NY and Texas in March. Then I added a theater show we have tickets for, and some standing events like a monthly wine tasting.

Then I took it a step further and scheduled -- yes -- a kiss.

He's on a conference trip for the next few weeks, and what can I say. I miss my mister.

He has yet to reply. Keeping me on the edge of my seat, is he?

Was Google a necessary or useful tool, and will we need any help in getting that event off the ground? No and no. But am I smiling, knowing now that technology can, through a bit of whimsy, be subverted to suit my devilish ends?